


we'll leave no heart unbroken

by startagainbuttercup



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26271520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startagainbuttercup/pseuds/startagainbuttercup
Summary: How Oliver sees Connor's friends.Not really a coliver fic. But Connor is a big part of Ollie's life.
Relationships: Oliver Hampton & Annalise Keating, Oliver Hampton & Michaela Pratt, Oliver Hampton/Connor Walsh
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Michaela, Oliver and some wine

**Author's Note:**

> hi, it's me again. i love Oliver Hampton with my whole heart and also I love his interactions with other main characters, sadly we mostly see him as a part of coliver, so wrote something from his pov that is not about Connor. Or, at least, not all of it.  
> The first part is about Michaela, but I'm planning to write more

Michaela is the first Connor's _not friend_ Oliver meets. Well, technically it's not exactly accurate, he meets her at the same time as Wes and Laurel, but Oliver would say she is the first person he _sees_. Michaela is _bright_ , she is always the person in the room the eye catches first.

When Oliver meets Michaela, he watches her interactions with Connor and he smiles secretly to himself. Whatever Connor says about those people not being his _friends_ , he can see it clearly. It is in the way Michaela casually offers him to try her drink, or in the way Connor offers to hold her bag while she is taking a selfie with Laurel. It is in the way they laugh and give high five to each other after they beat Wes in the argument about the current case, and in the way they exchange _looks_. At some point Oliver even gets jealous, because those looks are too intimate, like they know something that he doesn't.

The first _look_ Michaela shoots to Connor happens when Wes and Laurel go to the corner and start to discuss something too passionately for just friendly talk. Oliver notices, that Michaela is a good actress, because her face looks worried just for one second before her big, bright, natural, and beautiful smile is back as she keeps talking about Annalise. Oliver would think he imagined it if not Connor's face, the face Oliver knows quite well. Connor reciprocates the _look_ and Oliver can see a worried wrinkle on his forehead, so Oliver knows he didn't imagine the same wrinkle on Michaela's.

Michaela is ambitious, way more ambitious than Connor - something what Oliver didn't think can be possible. She is also sweet and Oliver, who feels really nervous at first, forgets about it because Michaela's eyes are kind and she seems to be really exciting to meet him. She tells him she is glad that he and Connor are together again (time for Oliver to shoot Connor a _look_ ) even after all Connor's enchanting dick behaviour. Oliver is really surprised by amount of information Michaela has on him considering he didn't even think Connor would talk about him with his coworkers. Michaela's words warm his heart more than anything, a way more than 3 glasses of wine, 2 margaritas and 4 shots of tequila he has by the end of the evening.

When Connor moves into his flat, Michaela becomes a frequent guest despite Connor's assurances that they're not friends. She does spent more time in Oliver's living room than all Connor's coworkers together. At some point Oliver finds himself buying an extra bottle of wine he knows Michaela likes, just in case. They open it less than a week later when she comes to give Connor some case files and eventually stays for dinner.

Finally, Connor admits that he and Michaela are friends. When that day comes, they're not just friends, they are what Oliver would call _best friends_. Well, Michaela is basically a family member. Oliver likes her very much and he sees why she and Connor are so close.

When Oliver and Connor break up, he is just a bit afraid that Michaela might take _Connor's_ side, and he is grateful when she keeps talking to him at work and takes a charge on his humpr, and comes to his place once with a bottle of wine to complain about Connor occupying her small place. They laugh about it and end up discussing Connor's weird but endearing habit to hang his towel on shower curtain holder and how good his breakfast pancakes are.

When Oliver figures out who killed Sam Keating, Michaela is the person who gets him back to Earth. She comes to his place and she threatens him but after her words he realises that he won't go to the police. That would mean to turn Connor in and Oliver would never do it. He is also grateful to Michaela when this time she takes Connor's side after his confession about Wes. That's the moment Oliver appreciates her the most, because he is not sure Connor would manage to go through everything without her.

When Oliver starts to work for Tegan Price, it is a dream: amazing office, amazing boss, amazing coworkers, but the most important, Michaela is here, by his side. She is the person he talks during the lunch and she always smile brightly when she sees him. When Michaela comes to Oliver's place, they gossip about colleagues while drinking wine, and Connor throws pillows from the coach to them because he is unemployed and jealous.

When Simon happens, Oliver loses his job, but the most important, he loses all _respect_ he had for Michaela, and honestly, he feels bad. He misses her a lot and it causes almost physical pain to ignore her when she is staying Connor's best friend. Despite everything, he never has a second thought when he offers to live together in the big house.

It takes Oliver a long time and a lot of Connor's judging glances to forgive her. He is not sure he forgives her entirely, but at some point he feels like talking with Michaela again, and God, did he miss it. He almost cries when she and Asher throw the bachelor party before Oliver's and Connor's wedding and he hugs Michaela in the end, sincerely, because he loves her and he is grateful to her for being a good friend. Not a good person, though, but a good friend, and not even to Oliver, but to Connor. Maybe sometimes Oliver can be selfish and bitchy, but at the end of the day Connor is the only thing that matters.

When Connor goes to jail, Michaela is the only person Olives has. The voice in his head keeps telling him that it is unfair, that she got a better deal, while he lost Connor, but he ignores that voice. Oliver moves out of the house, so does Michaela, but she keeps coming to Oliver's new small lonely place. They don't discuss Tegan's fascinating style or their colleagues while laughing and drinking wine, not anymore. They sit together, in silence, watching some musical movie. Sometimes they talk about Connor and the future. Oliver tells her about the big house, and a dog, and kids, and everything he is going to have with Connor, once five years pass. Michaela tells him about her plans, and her new job, and how good her cases go. They avoid talking about Annalise and Laurel. They also never talk about Wes and Asher.

A year later Michaela announces, that she is moving to Washington D.C., and a few weeks after that Oliver is completely alone. He misses her a lot, but after some time he realises, that he feels slightly better when she is not around. It is a little less painful to think about Connor and their future, when he doesn't see Michaela, free and moving on with her life, while Oliver is **_stuck_** , while he just _exists_ , counting minutes, waiting for Connor's five years to turn into zero.

When Connor comes back, they don't talk about Michaela, but Oliver knows, that he is in contact with her.

Sometimes, Michaela comes to Oliver in dreams, young, smiling and bright, like at the first time he met her.


	2. Oliver, Annalise and some sacrifices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took me long enough, but i wrote the second part. thank you for kudos and comments on the first chapter.  
> i have plans for at least one more chapter but let's see if it will be able to write more

At first, Oliver suspects that Connor uses his boss and professor Annalise Keating as an excuse to leave. _I need to go, Annalise tomorrow morning, I need to prepare_ \- he would say, ten minutes after they just had sex, when Oliver hasn't even regained his energy to get up from the bed, helplessly watching Connor walking around his flat and picking up his clothes. Three times in a row, and it finally makes Oliver dig information on Connor's professor. Not that he hacks her email, but he definitely finds some proof that it is not just an excuse. A lot of students' reviews and the whole article about how her practice is organised.

At some point Connor apparently has a free evening, because he stays at Oliver's bed for the whole hour, before they move to the couch, to the kitchen and then back to the bed. When he finally asks why Connor is not rushing away to occupy his evening with _Annalise things_ , Connor says something about him having his own life and that makes Oliver snort and roll his eyes. _I do have a life -_ Connor argues, throwing a pillow to Oliver playfully, and, ironically, his phone starts ringing at this very moment. Oliver doesn't need to ask, he can say who is calling by slightly guilty and embarrassed expression on Connor's face.

Annalise Keating, as Oliver imagines her in his head, is some kind of deity, that demands sacrifices. The sacrifices include from 12 to 18 out of 24 hours of Connor's day, and 100% of Connor's attention. Oliver wonders, why this woman has so much control on Connor's life. He wonders if lying, sleeping with strangers and using Oliver's hacking skills is the limit in Connor's tries to impress her. He doesn't wonder for long, though, it takes Connor a month to fuck another random guy to get that recording, not thinking twice.

When Connor appears at his door in the middle of the night, having a panic attack, Oliver helps him. No matter how hurt he feels, he is a decent human being. When 3 hours later Connor runs to work, Oliver almost regrets it. Of course, Annalise is more important for Connor than his own health, more important than drugs problems, and more important than everything Oliver would ever give to him. Not that Oliver is going to give anything.

He is wrong.

When they get back together, Oliver notices that Annalise Keating is still a big part of Connor's life, but Connor has changed his attitude. He doesn't worship his professor anymore, he doesn't try to please her, and this time Oliver believes that everything will be different.

When Oliver finally meets Connor's mysterious boss, he is surprised, almost shocked. Annalise is not a goddess and she is definitely not a monster. She is a polite woman, who looks maybe a little too tired, when she thanks Oliver for his help and retires to her office. He genuinely doesn't understand, why Connor and Michaela talk about her as if she is going to bite their heads off. When he asks Connor about it on their way home, he gets irritated _Can we stop talking about Annalise_ as an answer.

 _Can we stop talking about Annalise_ becomes a thing, and the more Oliver grows to like her, the more it seems to annoy Connor. A few weeks later Oliver finds himself a way more excited for digging some dirt for Annalise than doing his boring full time job. That's when he decides to quit, planning to go to Annalise's and ask her for a job. A pure horror in Connor's eyes when he announces it is something to think of.

Oliver ignores it though. He gets annoyed by Connor's tries to "save" him from whatever bad things are going on in Annalise's life. He is not a child. He wants to work with this amazing, strong and clever woman.

When he comes to his job interview, he tries to impress her maybe a little too much, spilling the Stanford secret to prove he can lie. He regrets it immediately, because he can see in Annalise's eyes: she is gonna tell Connor. It is also the moment, when Oliver realises, that Annalise's eyes give her away. They are honest and sad, but they show a spark of interest. When Oliver says good bye, he is 99% sure, Annalise is gonna hire him. He is not wrong this time.

Weeks of work for Annalise make Oliver understand, why her students do the best that they can to get her attention. She works on the best cases, she is helping people. Every lawyer with self respect would kill for this opportunity. But it is not only that. Oliver can see it, and he is sure, everybody else can see it too. It is in her way to speak, her harsh words contrasted with her kind eyes that give away how deeply, passionately she cares about every person she is defending. It is in the way she walks in the room, her confidence that hides her tiredness. The cold mask she wears, and how warm and alive she is under it.

At some point Oliver admits, he is a little in love with that woman, and that is not something Oliver experiences often. If Annalise was a deity that demands sacrifices, Oliver would give his soul or his firstborn child, probably. He doesn't really remember when was the last time his mind was so blown by someone so cool, so professional, so purposeful.

When Annalise asks him to destroy all the data on the phone, he does it, not asking questions. He makes a copy though, not because he is questioning Annalise's intentions, no, he does it out of the habit.

When everything goes down, Oliver almost lets Connor convince him that Annalise is a bad person. That she is responsible for what happened to Wes. It ruins Oliver's little crush on her and and makes him look at Annalise differently.

It occurs to him later, after they're over this mess, that Annalise, in fact, is the only person who tries to save everyone. To cover their asses, risking her life and career. To help them all, including Connor, even when they don't deserve it. Sometimes at night, when Oliver can't sleep, he listens to Connor's quiet snorts and wonders, how Annalise handles it. How she can sleep, work, keep fighting, and Oliver can barely breathe when he tries to think about everything that happened.

It's not long before he finds his answer, though he wishes he didn't. Annalise gets her license revoked because of drinking. That makes Oliver unemployed, but he barely concerned about it. The only thing he can think of is how easy Annalise got broken, when she always seemed unbreakable.

When FBI offers a deal to Connor: slander Annalise in exchange of 5 year in prison, Oliver asks him not to take it. But in the end of the day, it is only 5 years, and then they will be _free_. There is nothing Oliver wouldn't give to have his happy and free life with Connor. No matter, how much he is grateful to Annalise Keating, she has to be sacrificed to always hungry, always demanding love.

When it is over and Connor is taken away from him, Oliver stands there, in the court building, feeling absolutely nothing. He hears Michaela telling him something, but he is not listening. For a moment he finds Annalise's eyes in the other end of the hall. _I don't blame you_ , Olivers reads in those eyes and averts his gaze, hating how shame and regret fill in all the empty space inside him.

Five years pass relatively fast, and Oliver never finds courage to contact Annalise. He tracks what she's up to though, never missing the articles about her big cases and updates in Tegan's instagram. When Connor is out and they move to California, they try to start a new life and leave everything, including their ex boss, behind.

It's 10 years later, when Annalise invites Connor and Oliver to her forty years law practice anniversary. After a lot of persuasion Connor agrees to come. When they arrive, Oliver is a way more nervous than he expected himself to be. He gasps when he sees her, 15 years older and so, so much happier than he remembers. Annalise is genuinely glad to see them both, and Oliver is overwhelmed by the kindness in her eyes and warmness in her smile in contrast with the last time he saw he in that damned court room.

For the first time in all those years, Oliver feels free of heavy weight of guilt he never realised was in his chest. Knowing from the internet, that they didn't break Annalise's life, is one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes, knowing she forgave them, is completely different.

There are many things Oliver has to sacrifice by the end of his life, but friendship with Annalise Keating is not one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> if you want to scream about htgawm or scream about mistakes in my fic, i'm @finemess on tumblr


End file.
